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Americans As Communitarians: an Empirical Study

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Americans As Communitarians: an Empirical Study " ~ ~ Groups that are charted at opposite sides of the spectrum in the older paradigm are grouped together here. Civil libertarians, tradi­ tionally classified as left, are coupled with laissez-faire conservatives and libertarians, who are traditionally classified as right, because all of these groups share a preoccupation with liberty. Social conserva­ tives, traditionally lumped with laissez-faire conservatives, are here considered a group unto themselves in order to emphasize their con­ Americans as Communitarians: cern with order and their willingness to rely on the government to An Empirical Study impose this order by, for example, enforcing bans on abortion and David Karp homosexual activities and instituting prayer in schools. Communi­ tarians, interested in minimizing the antagonism between liberty and order, focus on voluntary compliance with mores. (This new three­ At the end of 1996,The Communitarian Network conducted a way typology and the rationale behind it is discussed at length in national poll, using a random sample ofAmerican adults, measuring Amitai Etzioni's new book, The NewGolden Rule: CommunityandMo­ support for both general and specific communitarian positions. This ralityin a Democratic Society.) first empirical study also provides a baseline for future studies in that it will allow one to determine if communitarian ideas are gaining or losing support over time, as the efforts of The Communitarian Net­ Ideological Preference work and others to spread communitarian ideals continue. Survey results show a fairly high degree of ideological consis­ tency among the sample. More than 80% of the respondents consis­ The heart of the study rests on an intellectual, normative, and tently adhered to either individualist, communitarian, or social con­ political assumption: that when studying which virtues a society up­ servative positions, indicating that this tripartite division is a useful holds, what its core values are, and which institutions and policies classification of contemporary public philosophy. ("Consistent" is best convey these virtues and values, the old dichotomy between lib­ defined as the respondent holding one position more often than ei­ erals and conservatives no longer prevails. The old dichotomy focuses ther of the other positions and for at least six of the items.) on the respective role of the state versus that of the private economy; the new focus is on normative commitments and moral values--on Fourteen of the fifteen substantive items in the survey were de­ what sometimes is called culture. Here the most important distinc­ signed to distinguish communitarian from individualist and social tion, at the foundation of the study at hand, is among those who ex­ conservative positions. As a whole, 58%of those surveyed showed a press great concern for individual autonomy-individualists (which clear communitarian preference. Of these communitarians, nearly half includes libertarians, laissez-faireconservatives, andcivillibertarians); (48%) showed a secondary preference for social conservative posi­ those who seek more social order, based on strong enforcement of tions, i.e., when they did not support communitarian positions, they moral norms by the state if necessary-social conservatives; and those tended to choose social conservative positions. Thirty-nine percent of who attempt to reconcile the two-the communitarians. Again, the communitarians held a secondary preference for individualist this typology is based on what people call "cultural" or "moral" is­ positions and the remaining 13%were evenly split in their secondary sues; liberals are usually identified as people concerned with preference. economic and social issues, and hence they are not included in the One substantive item of the survey did not distinguish communi­ typology. tarians, individualists, and socialconservatives, butwas includedin or- 42 The Responsive Community. Winter 1996/97 Americans as Communitarians 43 ,., ~ eo , , Communilariansl 50 Communilarians SocIal ConselVlltive Leanings .. Communilar1ansl Individualist Leanings 23% 30 Socl8l ConseMltives 20 16% 10k Individualists I. 19"10 ---l Did Not Qualify Missing Protect Face Balance Rights! Rights Responsibility Resp. der to test the communitarian claim that Americans tend to believe "we should carefully balance our individual rights and social respon­ social problems have a moral or "cultural" basis. Specifically, when sibilities." we asked people what they thought the main source of our country's social problems is,45% of Americans believed the source was "moral," When we asked "Good citizenship means most of all...," predomi­ 28% believed it was "political," 17% believed it was "economic." (It nant support was essentially split between a more communitarian might be of interest to note that this was the only question in which a position, "contributing to one's community" (34.3%), and the more significant portion of the respondents volunteered that the provided social conservative position, "obeying the law" (34.0%).Slightly less altematives did not satisfy them; 6% suggested that the source was support (27%)was given to the individualist position, "providing for elsewhere and 4% indicated that they did not know the answer.) oneself and one's family." A sense of Balance Moral Enforcement-Encourage or Legislate? f One main question was aimed at tapping the key differentiating Several questions were directed at finding out Americans' view­ issue among the three groups. Fifteen percent of the respondents sup­ points about the government's role in fostering virtue. When asked ported the individualist position that "we should vigilantly protect directly about the government's role in influencing morality, the plu­ our rights against the intrusion of government.II Twenty-six percent rality of Americans (45%) chose the individualist position that the supported the social conservative position that "in an age of moral government should "not get involved because morality is everyone's decay, Americans need most to live up to their social responsibili­ personal business." Thirty-five percent favored the communitarian ties." Fifty-four percent embraced the communitarian position that response, in which the government should"discourage, but not pro- 44 The Responsive Community. Winter 1996/97 Americans as Communitarians 45 ','"".,.",.,:. "',' ';"}·r u ( rj hibit immoral acts." Fifteen percent favored the social conservative "teach only the values we all share." Twenty-two percent took the response in which the government should "prohibit immoral acts." conservative position that they should "teach religious values." Here Asked specifically about the role of the government in legislative support for the individualist position, that they should "not teach changes that might affect the rate of divorce, respondents overwhelm­ values at all," was the smallest-s-only 10%. ingly supported the individualist position of "leaving it to the couple In another question, when Americans were asked about high themselvesto decide."Twenty percent favored the communitarianview school community service programs, 54% took the communitarian of"not changingthelaw,but discouragingdivorce,"and 15%favoredthe position that high schools should, "sponsor community service pro­ conservativeview of"changing the law to make divorce more difficult." grams but not require them." Thirty-five percent supported the con­ Boththis and the previous item demonstrate that there is stillsignificant servative position that high schools should, "sponsorandrequire com­ supportforthe individualistposition.Respondents tended towards non­ munity service for graduation." Only 8% took the individualist posi­ intervention.atleastin mattersthat affectthem directly.Thesocial conser­ tion that high schools should, "not sponsor community service pro­ vative position, that the government ought to playa direct role in grams." The pattern for both of these questions was identical. Most enforcing morality, received the least support. Americans favored moral education, but opposed requiring it. Few, however, would dismiss it out of hand. The Family eo The study sought to assess Americans' views of various models .. of the family. When asked, "What kind of family structure do you think would be best for kids?" most respondents (58%)supported the .. communitarian position of having "both parents sharing responsibil­ ity for chores and child-raising." Twenty-four percent supported the conservative position of having the "mother at home while the father 3D works." And 17% supported the nonjudgmental individualist posi­ .. tion that "there is no one best structure." .. Social Order •c: : .LJ L Schools and families are supposed to bring up young people who internalize the values of their society. When these efforts fail, the ques­ Missing StrIcler Discourage Leaveto Divorce Laws Divorce Couple tion arises of how social order is to be maintained. Three items of the survey directly addressed this issue. When asked, with regard to po­ Character Education lice, what our top priority should be, substantial support (62%)was Two questions spoke to the general issue of promoting virtue by given to the communitarian position, "monitoring police closely, but specifically addressing character education. The first asked about the giving them more leeway." Only 18%supported the conservative view appropriate role of public schools in this area. Most respondents (63%) of "giving police more leeway in catching criminals," and 17% sup- selected the communitarian
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